'The economic downturn isn't having much effect on hair and beauty photographers,' says New York-based specialist Greg Sorensen. 'Hair and beauty products are essentials. Someone might hold back from buying a new dress or handbag, but they're not going to stop buying lipstick.'

It sounds like an ideal market to be in right now, but hair and beauty is a tough nut to crack. For starters, you need to be very well connected with everyone from fashion editors to stylists, and it takes persistence to build up those contacts. Young London-based fashion photographer Elise Dumontet, who's represented by Balcony Jump, assisted for six-and-a-half years before taking the plunge, while Aitken Jolly took nine.

'After four years of assisting lots of people I knew were going out on their own and it was very tempting to join them,' he says. 'But I knew that if I held on I would be able to enter the industry at a much higher level. Fashion editors who have seen you around on set are much more willing to look at your book, and also the fashion editorial and hair and make up assistants are all progressing alongside you.'

It's stood him in good stead - for the last two years of his stint he assisted cutting edge photography duo Mert + Marcus, and he's now signed to prestigious agency DandV Management, home of Liz Collins and Jacob Sutton. And it's not just the newcomers - Ben Hassett and John Akehurst tell similar stories. Hassett got into beauty photography via contacts at British Vogue, while Akehurst got his big break when, after years of assisting, he bumped into uberstylist Karl Templer, then working at The Face. 'He said "You're cool, you can come and shoot for us",' he laughs.

John Akehurst assisted for years before getting his big break in beauty photography. Image © John Akehurst.

Precision

But although they're crucial, connections only get you so far. You also need excellent technical skills of course, because hair and beauty photography is incredibly precise, and almost always shot in-studio setups. Photographers tend to shoot digital medium format, tethered to a screen that every one can see, working extremely close up. You need to be able to handle a variety of lighting set ups, which alter according to which body parts you're shooting, for which clients.

'The lighting is very different in editorial and ads,' says Dumontet. 'If you're shooting a make up ad the clients often want clean, fresh light to show the textures and colours of the products. If you're shooting beauty products like moisturisers, it's all about trying to show very idyllic, moist skin. But if you're shooting editorial, you can use much more shadowy lighting because it's more about the overall idea. If it's a beauty shot you can sometimes leave the hair in shadow, while if it's a hair shoot you have to light the hair to show the different textures.'

Shooting hair and beauty also requires good knowledge of the relevant products, and for ads, how they're positioned in the market. If you're shooting for a mascara manufacturer, for example, you need to encapsulate both the company's overall brand and the product's unique selling point. These factors will feed into the lighting, and you need to be aware of how each product will react to the lights. 'If you're shooting skin products it's all about the texture,' says Akehurst. 'But you have to know the products well, because they each give different types of shine. If they're oily, it doesn't make for a good sheen.'

Greg Sorensen says beauty products - and therefore photography - are almost recession-proof.

Skin job

Skin is a moot point. As Sorensen points out, digital technology has made it possible to zoom in on beauty shots closer than ever, which means that every pore is now subject to minute scrutiny. Foundation cream was one solution, albeit a heavy-handed one, but now most of the work is done in post. 'Everything is retouched and the skin has to be perfect because you see things invisible to the naked eye (when you zoom in using Photoshop),' says Sorensen. 'But I dislike anything that's overly retouched, or smothered in foundation and powder. The skin shouldn't end up looking like plastic - in fact, it's very important it still looks like skin.'

Dumontet agrees. 'Perhaps because I'm a woman, I don't relate to ads that show very perfect skin,' she says. 'I know it's an ideal I can't achieve.'

Given this approach, the model is essential - as Jolly puts it, if there's a choice between two girls and one has much smoother skin, you'll choose her. But the model's personality and style are crucial too, and Hassett even says they're the most important factor in his shoots, whatever the products used. Because of this he gets heavily involved in casting, and says finding the right girl is often the trickiest part of the job.

Beyond the model, hair and beauty photographers have to work with a small army of fashion editors, art directors, hair and beauty artists, stylists and assistants. Having 60 people in the studio isn't unheard of, so teamwork is essential, as is the ability to create a single vision out of the multiplicity of voices. Photographers sometimes have to step back from their own ideas and often have to compromise, so it's not a job for fragile egos.

They also need to have plenty of patience because, where it might take 30 minutes to change a model's clothes on a fashion shoot, changing hair and make up, and then resetting the meticulous lighting, can take anything up to two hours. Essentially, says Sorensen, you're going back to the drawing board every time, and it can be difficult to maintain your energy through the peaks and troughs. Glamorous job or not, as Hassett puts it: 'I estimate I spend 80% of my time waiting. No, 90%.'